[GuyBarry]

A couple of nights ago I performed a song that's always been a favourite of mine - "Vanessa" by Flanders and Swann.  Written as a sort of Noel Coward pastiche, it's about a man who suffers some unspecified crisis in his love life and is desperate to talk about it on the phone, only to find that none of his friends want to speak to him.  It's very rarely performed these days but it went down very well.

But the effort I put into trying to find the song on the internet was about as fruitless as the efforts described by the singer.  There used to be a comprehensive site called "Flanders and Swann Online" with lyrics of all their songs and transcripts of all the monologues, but it unaccountably vanished a couple of months ago.  None of the usual lyrics sites had it - there was one that purported to have the lyrics to "Vanessa" but actually had the lyrics to a completely different song, "The Youth of the Heart".  The YouTube video was blocked.  I found a site that appeared to have an audio file only to be told "this content is not available in your region".  Eventually I decided to perform the whole song from memory - it's quite a complex lyric containing lots of different names and excuses, but I managed it with only one or two slight cheats.

Well, this morning I finally tracked it down on Spotify, and I'm delighted to say it's almost exactly as I remember it.  I'm just a bit worried that this extremely funny song could be lost to posterity!  I may transcribe the lyrics and put them on a site somewhere.

Have you ever come across a song that's almost impossible to track down on the internet?

[PaulAds]

Could you record your own version and put it up for us to have a listen to?

I'd like to hear it 

I can't find "all I ask of you" by Hillary Clinton and Julian Assange anywhere 

[GuyBarry]

Could you record your own version and put it up for us to have a listen to?

I'd like to hear it  

I don't know if this link will work for you but here's the recording on Spotify:
https://play.spotify.com/album/4ImytDhRjbCHimJfcrkQq9/32UthTlyQ21NPWC2ORnj6N

It's track number 14 on "The Complete Flanders and Swann" album.  Michael Flanders sings it much better than I ever could!

[CaliaMoko]

Have you ever come across a song that's almost impossible to track down on the internet?

Yes! I! Have! "The Undertaker Man". As audio it has proven to be 100% impossible (for me, anyway) to find. I did find this: http://levysheetmusic.mse.jhu.edu/catalog/levy:154a.065

I came across it when I was looking for music on various themes and that one caught my eye. I have actually recorded it, but not the version I occasionally use now. I've since changed some of the words (it's public domain, so I can mess with it) to update it a little. It still needs work, though, before I make a new recording of it. If you're curious, you can hear it before my lyric changes here. It isn't a great recording and, in fact, one of the words is even missing. So I really need to do it again. Eventually.

Anyway, I'd love to hear an original of it sometime. And, by the way, if you're into old pubic domain music at all, the Levy music library is a wonderful resource!

Vicki

[GuyBarry]

If you're curious, you can hear it before my lyric changes here.

What a brilliant song!  Thanks for sharing it.  I suppose, for music of that era, there's a possibility that it was never recorded at all.  Do you know if it was?

[CaliaMoko]

If you're curious, you can hear it before my lyric changes here.

What a brilliant song!  Thanks for sharing it.  I suppose, for music of that era, there's a possibility that it was never recorded at all.  Do you know if it was?

Oh, good question! I'll bet it wasn't! There is no indication on the sheet music that it was ever recorded. It was published as sheet music and possibly (probably) performed live only. And evidently no one has recorded it since, either. Not under that name, anyway.

Thanks!
Vicki

[GuyBarry]

And evidently no one has recorded it since, either. Not under that name, anyway.

Until now!  You may well be the first (and only) person to have recorded it. 

There's probably money to be made out of finding obscure out-of-copyright material and recording it.  Perhaps I'll investigate.

[CaliaMoko]

There's a lot to choose from, if you can find it. I have found the Levy Library to be a great resource. There are others.

Sometimes the words sound like someone was in a hurry to make something, anything, fit. That's one reason I changed some of the words on this one, besides just to update it.

Good luck with that idea!

Vicki